Late Thursday, Apple released an update to Java for Mac OS X 10.5 (“Leopard”). Apple Java for OS X 10.5 Update 5, a 161.3 megabyte download, includes fixes from all previous updates and brings with it improved reliability, security, and compatibility for the cross-platform technology.

According to Macworld, the update patches many Java-related security vulnerabilities, including some which allow untrusted Java applets to obtain elevated privileges via a Web page and potentially execute arbitrary code. There’s also a patch for Java Web Start that prevents a buffer overflow from quitting an application or executing arbitrary code.

The security patches in this fix were released by Java-maker Sun Microsystems in early August, marking an improvement in turnaround time for Apple. In the past, the company has lagged at rolling out fixes for Java, such as this past June, when Apple finally issued an update for a bug that Sun had patched over six months prior. Per Computerworld, the’s update does not fold in Sun’s most recent patch of August 11, which plugs further security holes.

The update requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later to install and run and can also be snagged and installed via Mac OS X’s Software update feature.

DivX for Mac, the shareware player that allows users to view high definition H.264 (.mkv) videos with AAC audio and video, hit version 7.0.1 yesterday. The new version, a 23.3 megabyte download (courtesy of VersionTracker), contains the followings changes and features:

– DivX Player 7.0.1 now supports playback of DivX Plus files (.mkv/H.264/AAC) and has an updated UI.
– Use of the DivX Codec 6.8.3.
– Up to 50% faster decoding on multi-core computers for better HD Playback.
– New custom matrices that allow for better fine tuning of encoder for specific content type.
– DivX Converter 1.3.1 has been updated to work on Leopard (and to work in general).

As nifty as Mac OS X 10.6 (“Snow Leopard”) may be, according to MacFixIt, a number of users are reporting a problem where the installer will not recognize the current boot drive as a valid destination for Snow Leopard. Instead, it will display the drive with a yellow triangle on it, indicating something is wrong with that drive. When the drive is selected, the installer claims the system cannot boot from the drive.

“I closed all my apps. I ran the installer. I agreed to the terms. I am asked where to install Snow Leopard. Only one disk is available – my boot disk. It has a yellow triangle on it.

Selecting the disk tells me ‘Mac OS X cannot be installed on Macintosh HD, because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer.’ Rebooting and attempting an install direct from CD yields the same results.”

The issue occurs when the Snow Leopard installer detects a small discrepancy in the partition table of the drive, and assumes booting off the drive may not be successful. The fixes involve rewriting the table without formatting the drive, but if that does not work then formatting should definitely work (provided you have a backup).

Fixes:
1. Run drive checks.

The first thing to do is run Disk Utility or, even better, run a third-party utility program to check out the drive to ensure it is functioning correctly. Fixing any errors may require booting off a volume other than the boot volume (i.e., the Snow Leopard DVD or a Drive Genius DVD), and performing the fixes from there.

2. Repartition the drive.

This problem might happen even if the drive checks out with various disk utility software. The way around this is to have Disk Utility repartition the drive, which, luckily, can be done without having to format the drive. To do this, boot from the Snow Leopard DVD and select your language. Then launch “Disk Utility” from the “Utilities” menu and perform the following steps:

Resize the partition by selecting the volume name in the rectangular volume representation and drag the bottom-right corner of it to change its size.

Click “Apply” to change the partition’s size.

Revert the change by dragging the same resizing corner back to the bottom, and click “apply.”

After this is done, quit out of Disk Utility and try installing Snow Leopard again. Since you are booted from the Snow Leopard DVD you should be able to continue immediately without having to reboot your system.

Workarounds:
1. Format and install.

If you have a full system backup via Time Machine or a drive clone, you can format your boot drive and do a clean install of OS X. To do this, first be sure your backups are complete and accessible, and then boot off the Snow Leopard DVD (click the “Utilities” button instead of “Continue” in the Leopard installer, or reboot and hold the “C” key to boot off the CD/DVD drive). When the installer loads, select your language and then launch “Disk Utility” from the “Utilities” menu and perform the following steps:

Select “1 partition” from the drop-down menu, and then give the partition a name and format it as “Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Click the “options” button and select “GUID” for the partition table.

Close this window and click “Apply” to repartition the table.

Close “Disk Utility” and continue with the Snow Leopard installation.

When the installation completes, migrate your data from your backup to the new system.
In this procedure, you can migrate from either your Time Machine backup, or from a cloned drive. Keep in mind that when you do this you may need to reinstall some programs since a clean install may break some application dependency links to system files.

Altering an earlier opinion that surprise announcements weren’t to be expected at Apple’s anticipated September 9th media event, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster released a second note Tuesday suggesting an Apple TV upgrade could debut at next week’s event.

Per AppleInsider, Munster stated that he believed an appearance by Steve Jobs would be the biggest news out of the iPod-centric event. Munster has now said stated that he has reason to believe there will be an Apple TV-related announcement next Wednesday. In a note, he pointed out that Apple’s online store has a wait time of one to two weeks for the 40GB model at US$229. Munster said he has never seen a delay for the Apple TV since it debuted in March of 2007. The analyst suggests that Apple is either phasing out the 40GB model, as the 160GB offering is still available, or is selling its remaining inventory before a new product launches.

“We believe the company is most likely phasing out the 40GB model and possibly reducing the price of the 160GB model,” he said, “but a new model is possible given the hardware has been the same for 2+ years.”

Munster does not believe that a major upgrade to the Apple TV will happen next week because he expects such an announcement to coincide with a subscription service that would need to be negotiated with content providers. Weeks ago, Munster reiterated his belief that Apple is working towards a new Apple TV with iTunes show subscriptions and possibly DVR capabilities.

“It is unlikely that negotiations for new content are finished,” he said.

Given the age of the Apple TV hardware, Munster said he wouldn’t rule out a new lineup as a “wildcard” announcement at the media-centric event.

Munster went on to re-state his belief that Apple will launch a full-fledged television set in two to five years. Such a device, he said, would have DVR and home media functionality built in, and would sync content with Macs, iPhones and iPods wirelessly. He said an Apple television could also play games, with an iPhone or iPod touch acting as the wireless controller.

“Such a device would command a premium among a competitive field of budget TVs,” he said. “We believe Apple could differentiate itself with software that makes home entertainment simple and solves a pain point for consumers.”

Fixed:
* Opening the Address bar dropdown
* Navigating back and forth to a form with an open input suggester
* Disabling links on the Navigation bar
* Toolbar updates
* Gmail Contact manager issue
* Collapsed Address Bar not showing domain name until page finishes loading
* Problem while navigating History
* BitTorrent problem
* Not being able to remove the Menu button
* Issue when saving a picture that has not been fully downloaded
* Problem with “Sychronize Opera” button in Opera Speed Dial
* Deletion of speed dials not being synchronized

Mac OS X 10.6 (“Snow Leopard”) hit last Friday and, unfortunately, the upgrade breaks communication and compatibility with Palm’s aged Palm Desktop software once and for all. Per Macworld UK, third-party developer Mark/Space has stepped forward to offer its Missing Sync for Palm OS, which now supports Snow Leopard, according to a statement released by the company.

Late Tuesday, the Camino Project released version 1.6.9 of Camino, its free, open source web browser.
The new version, a 15.9 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
– Upgraded to version 1.8.1.23 of the Mozilla Gecko rendering engine, which includes several critical security and stability fixes.
– Upgraded the “Block flash animations” code to use Flashblock 1.5.11.
– Improved ad-blocking.

Camino requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later to run.
If you’ve tried the new version of Camino and have any kind of feedback about it, let us know.

Apple has discontinued support for legacy Palm OS devices in Mac OS X Snow Leopard’s iSync 3.1.0 according to AppleInsider. Per sources familiar with the latest Gold Master build, users of Palm OS devices will need to obtain third party support for syncing their Palm Desktop information with Mac OS X’s Sync Services.

Palm continues to provide a very old version of Palm Desktop 4.2.1D for Mac users, enabling syncing with legacy Palm Centro, Treo, Zire, Tungsten, LifeDrive, and Pilot models via its Mac OS X Universal Binary desktop software. That software is based upon what was originally Apple’s Claris Organizer, which Steve Jobs sold to Palm over a decade ago as Apple divested itself of its already long in the tooth Claris apps.

In addition with launching its Macs as the “digital hub” and selling the iPod, Apple developed iSync for Mac OS X, a set of software which enabled devices from any manufacturer to sync their data with a common store shared by desktop apps including iCal and Address Book. It eventually allowed users to also sync that information with Apple’s .Mac service, now called MobileMe.

Palm apparently never bothered to update its Palm Desktop for Mac software to make it compatible with Apple’s iSync. Instead, Apple, in an effort to keep Macs compatible with Palm’s device, created its own Palm Conduit software that linked Palm Desktop’s HotSync system into iSync. This software was then incorporated as part of iSync 2.0, released as part of Mac OS X Tiger nearly half a decade ago.

With Palm all but abandoning its “classic” devices developed prior to the release of the new Palm Pre, which does not use the same legacy Palm OS nor its HotSync or Palm Desktop software, the value of maintaining HotSync support in Mac OS X has dropped dramatically, leaving Apple to cut the support from the version that ships with Mac OS X Snow Leopard entirely.

It does not appear that the discontinuation of legacy Palm OS support in iSync is related to efforts by Palm to trick iTunes into syncing data with the new Palm Pre as if it were an iPod.

Third party software, including the Missing Sync from Mark/Space, enables Mac users to sync calendars, contacts, bookmarks, music, documents and other information between older Palm OS devices as well as other hardware including the new Palm Pre, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile phones and the Sony PlayStation Portable.

On Wednesday, Apple released firmware updates for its wireless mouse and keyboard, as well as for recent MacBook Pro owners.

According to Macworld, Bluetooth Firmware Update 2.0.1, a 1.78 megabyte download, provides bug fixes and better compatibility with the Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse and Wireless Keyboard. It’s meant for all Macs with Bluetooth based on the Broadcom chipset, although the download page doesn’t specify which models that includes.

Hard Drive Firmware Update 2.0, a 3.71 megabyte download, reduces certain (“infrequent,” according to Apple) noises made by 7200-rpm hard drives that shipped with the June 2009 MacBook Pro.